Safe Haven Puppy Sanctuary: KONG Toys Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We have so many dogs that have essentially grown up in rescue over the last few years. Adoptions have been way down and finding durable and rugged toys that last for longer than a day or two is not easy when they are older pups and young dogs. The Kongs give them something with lasting power to chew on inside or outside in the sun on the deck and are a popular choice among the dogs. They love having something they can carry around, and in the summer we can freeze them to give the dogs a nice cold treat on hot days!
How many pets did this grant help?
Our current adult dog and older-puppy population is about 28 animals. We will share these between our big-dog and small-dog populations according to size of toy and dog.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Otis (first photo) is one of our sanctuary dogs. He came to us from an older lady who had a bunch of dogs dumped on her property in an area that didn’t have a shelter or any type of animal control and the dogs just multiplied over time.
When we got there, she had more than 30 dogs in her small house and running loose outside, including a momma with newborns in a crate in the bedroom.
Otis was about 7 weeks old at the time we rescued him and his siblings. He looked like he was starting to break with mange, as he had some hair loss.
Over time, he lost more hair and now just has some small patches in places. We tried different things to treat him and his skin condition, but nothing ever worked, so he just stayed as a sanctuary dog. He wears a shirt to help protect his skin from the elements and the other dogs when they play, since his skin can be very vulnerable with no fur to protect it.
Liberty (second photo) came into us under the pretense that she was a Chihuahua puppy. As you can see, she is not!
Liberty (second photo) came to us on Memorial Day weekend in 2023 at about 8 weeks old. She went up for adoption at 3 months old and has pretty much had no interest or inquiries. Unfortunately she just celebrated her first year in rescue with us.
About six weeks ago, she went for a trial adoption; however, her anxiety would not let her warm up to the family and she stayed on the fringe and wouldn’t engage with them, so she came back to us.
While she is very happy with her foster mom and all her foster friends, we were fully expecting her to already be in a forever home and, as time ticks by, we are not sure if that will really be in her future.
She is very outgoing and loves having a toy she can carry around; she hauls her toys in and out of the house and hides them from the other dogs so they won’t steal them, lol. She is currently available for adoption; you can meet Liberty here.
